Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Driving Forward and Staying Positive in Adversity
4/6/2021 12:30:00 PM | Track and Field
The key to Aleeya Hutchins’ breakout performance was her focus during the months away.
One year ago, Aleeya Hutchins was in Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico, warming up with her Wake Forest distance medley relay teammates to compete for an NCAA Championship.
In the process of their mid-March journey from Winston-Salem to Texas, the team started to catch wind that changes were in the works because of the looming Covid-19 pandemic. First they found out that the Ivy League schools weren't participating, then the pre-event banquet was canceled and seemingly just hours later it was announced there would be no fans in attendance.
"Things kept happening," Wake Forest director of track and field John Hayes said. "We got to the track and the ladies were practicing. Things were going about as well as could be expected. We found out as a staff that the meet was canceled. They knew shortly after I knew."
Hutchins, along with her teammates Johanna Schulz, Amy Harding-Delooze and Cydney Delley were practicing hand-offs, and things just felt off-kilter.
"It was heartbreaking," Hutchins said. "We warmed up. We were practicing hand-offs, but everything felt really off. I think we all knew it was going to get canceled. There was a lot of anxiety and sadness."
Although the DMR team didn't stay intact for the 2020-21 season, Hutchins is on her way back to national championship competition, after setting a Wake Forest program record when she finished fifth in the ACC Championships last month in the 800m, securing a personal-best time of 2:04.73.
"I wish our DMRs could have gone to nationals together, but I want to come back and show what I have to do for those girls," Hutchins said. "I know they want me to do my best, for myself and the school. It's so amazing that I have this opportunity."
After a disappointing start to the season, Hutchins worked with her coaches and teammates to keep driving forward and stay positive.
"I started off the season with a bad race and was worried about where I was headed. I lost a little bit of confidence and was quite down," she said. "I just worked really hard every day with my coaches and my teammates. I wasn't going to give up. I'm still the same person and I'm pretty optimistic. I had to find ways to get myself out of that negative mentality.
"When we got to the ACC Championships, I had my confidence back. I trusted my training and my coaches continued to remind me that I had it in me."
She's thrilled with her finish, but believes she has more left in the tank, and believes she can spit out a better time at this year's nationals in Arkansas.
"It was unreal," Hutchins said about her ACC Championships performance. "It is almost indescribable. I'm proud and happy. I feel like when I got here I had something to prove to myself and others in my life. My teammates, coaches and staff are so supportive and motivate me everyday. It means so much, so I'm happy to bring that back to the team and share with everyone.
"When I ran the 2:04, I still had a lot of energy left and felt like I still had moves to make. I feel like I have a 2:03 or 2:02 in me."
One of the keys to Hutchins' breakout performance was her staying focused during the months away from Wake Forest during the pandemic hiatus.
"I just made sure that everyday I got up and did what I needed," she said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be where I am today. It was cold at that time in Canada, but I knew I had unfinished business. I knew I couldn't stop, and I think that's what separated a lot of athletes this year. You can tell who put in the work.
"It was both mentally and physically tough. It was a hard thing to do, but it paid off."
The sophomore star from Pickering, Ontario Canada had an interesting journey to becoming a Demon Deacon, originally committing elsewhere.
"Wake Forest and (assistant) coach (Andrew) Ferris was one of the first schools to reach out to me," Hutchins said. "I had no idea what Wake Forest was, aside from knowing it was in North Carolina. On my visit, I loved it immediately and knew that this was the spot for me. I wanted to commit on my visit, without visiting other schools. But I didn't have the offer I needed at the time. I committed to another school, but ended up being released from my NLI.
"I ran a faster time and was able to get the offer. God's timing worked out. I'm just so thankful for how things played out."
Her teammates know her both for being a Wake Forest record holder as well as being "TikTok famous." Hutchins has nearly 600,000 followers on the social media platform and has video lip syncing posts that get millions of likes and views.
"For some reason, a bunch of them went viral," she said. "It's been pretty funny and random.
She posted a video one day and saw it go from 34,000 likes to eventually more than a million views.
"What in the world?" she said. "I just kept posting similar things and kept getting likes and views. It's not one of my biggest priorities, but it's interesting and fun."
In terms of her track and field career at Wake Forest, Hutchins plans to run the 1,500m for the first time shortly after getting back from the NCAA Championships.
"Everything I've seen and everything coach Ferris has said indicates that she's very coachable and listens," Hayes said. "She has high goals, which makes it easier. She came into the program and hit the ground running. She obviously did very well last year. The ACC is one of the most difficult conferences in the women's 800-meter. To see how she did, and she was still one of the top-16 times in the country.
"We're excited about her future, being so young. I don't think we've seen even close to what she's going to accomplish here at Wake Forest."
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In the process of their mid-March journey from Winston-Salem to Texas, the team started to catch wind that changes were in the works because of the looming Covid-19 pandemic. First they found out that the Ivy League schools weren't participating, then the pre-event banquet was canceled and seemingly just hours later it was announced there would be no fans in attendance.
"Things kept happening," Wake Forest director of track and field John Hayes said. "We got to the track and the ladies were practicing. Things were going about as well as could be expected. We found out as a staff that the meet was canceled. They knew shortly after I knew."
Hutchins, along with her teammates Johanna Schulz, Amy Harding-Delooze and Cydney Delley were practicing hand-offs, and things just felt off-kilter.
"It was heartbreaking," Hutchins said. "We warmed up. We were practicing hand-offs, but everything felt really off. I think we all knew it was going to get canceled. There was a lot of anxiety and sadness."
Although the DMR team didn't stay intact for the 2020-21 season, Hutchins is on her way back to national championship competition, after setting a Wake Forest program record when she finished fifth in the ACC Championships last month in the 800m, securing a personal-best time of 2:04.73.
"I wish our DMRs could have gone to nationals together, but I want to come back and show what I have to do for those girls," Hutchins said. "I know they want me to do my best, for myself and the school. It's so amazing that I have this opportunity."
After a disappointing start to the season, Hutchins worked with her coaches and teammates to keep driving forward and stay positive.
"I started off the season with a bad race and was worried about where I was headed. I lost a little bit of confidence and was quite down," she said. "I just worked really hard every day with my coaches and my teammates. I wasn't going to give up. I'm still the same person and I'm pretty optimistic. I had to find ways to get myself out of that negative mentality.
"When we got to the ACC Championships, I had my confidence back. I trusted my training and my coaches continued to remind me that I had it in me."
She's thrilled with her finish, but believes she has more left in the tank, and believes she can spit out a better time at this year's nationals in Arkansas.
"It was unreal," Hutchins said about her ACC Championships performance. "It is almost indescribable. I'm proud and happy. I feel like when I got here I had something to prove to myself and others in my life. My teammates, coaches and staff are so supportive and motivate me everyday. It means so much, so I'm happy to bring that back to the team and share with everyone.
"When I ran the 2:04, I still had a lot of energy left and felt like I still had moves to make. I feel like I have a 2:03 or 2:02 in me."
One of the keys to Hutchins' breakout performance was her staying focused during the months away from Wake Forest during the pandemic hiatus.
"I just made sure that everyday I got up and did what I needed," she said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be where I am today. It was cold at that time in Canada, but I knew I had unfinished business. I knew I couldn't stop, and I think that's what separated a lot of athletes this year. You can tell who put in the work.
"It was both mentally and physically tough. It was a hard thing to do, but it paid off."
The sophomore star from Pickering, Ontario Canada had an interesting journey to becoming a Demon Deacon, originally committing elsewhere.
"Wake Forest and (assistant) coach (Andrew) Ferris was one of the first schools to reach out to me," Hutchins said. "I had no idea what Wake Forest was, aside from knowing it was in North Carolina. On my visit, I loved it immediately and knew that this was the spot for me. I wanted to commit on my visit, without visiting other schools. But I didn't have the offer I needed at the time. I committed to another school, but ended up being released from my NLI.
"I ran a faster time and was able to get the offer. God's timing worked out. I'm just so thankful for how things played out."
Her teammates know her both for being a Wake Forest record holder as well as being "TikTok famous." Hutchins has nearly 600,000 followers on the social media platform and has video lip syncing posts that get millions of likes and views.
"For some reason, a bunch of them went viral," she said. "It's been pretty funny and random.
She posted a video one day and saw it go from 34,000 likes to eventually more than a million views.
"What in the world?" she said. "I just kept posting similar things and kept getting likes and views. It's not one of my biggest priorities, but it's interesting and fun."
In terms of her track and field career at Wake Forest, Hutchins plans to run the 1,500m for the first time shortly after getting back from the NCAA Championships.
"Everything I've seen and everything coach Ferris has said indicates that she's very coachable and listens," Hayes said. "She has high goals, which makes it easier. She came into the program and hit the ground running. She obviously did very well last year. The ACC is one of the most difficult conferences in the women's 800-meter. To see how she did, and she was still one of the top-16 times in the country.
"We're excited about her future, being so young. I don't think we've seen even close to what she's going to accomplish here at Wake Forest."
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